The Graph Dance: Adding Fun to Math

Students+performing+the+Graph+Dance+on+Jan.+18%2C+2019.

Jasmine Plascencia

Students performing the ‘Graph Dance’ on Jan. 18, 2019.

Cam High’s math teacher, Ms. Brandae Rossini, has organized the “Graph Dance” since 2013, and this year’s rendition was performed on the quad stage on Jan. 18, 2019. 

The dance is open to all precalculus students, regardless of what teacher they have. Students who participate in the Graph Dance have a choice to either choreograph the dance or be a participant. The dance is usually performed to a pop song and reflects the graphs students learn in precalculus.

Rossini said, “The dance creates some excitement about graphs and their transformations, [and] it helps students remember what the graphs of certain functions look like.” Additionally, students in the Graph Dance receive extra credit points to help their first semester grades. Choreographers receive more points.

Some of the songs performed to in the past include: “We’re all in this together” from High School Musical in 2014; “Shake it off” by Taylor Swift in 2015; “Kiss me thru the phone” by Soulja Boy in 2016; ” Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus in 2017. This year’s song was “Tonight’s Gonna be a Good Night” by the Black Eyed Peas.

Arshdip Khinda, senior, said, “I participated in the Graph Dance of 2017-18. I was motivated to join for the extra credit. It was not too scary dancing in front of everyone because of how many dancers were on stage.”

Tanya Bernardino, junior, helped choreograph the 2019 Graph Dance. Bernardino said, “[Choreographing] was kinda stressful when no one could find out what moves to do. When we did find a dance we felt relieved.”

Throughout Dec., students had dance practices, led by choreographers, every week leading up to the performance day on the quad stage. “In the beginning, only a few participated, probably around 50, now around 200 participate. I just love when the students get really into it and get creative with how they are going to dance a certain graph,” said Rossini.

The performances are normally in Dec. but this year’s performance occurred after Winter Break on Jan. 18.